Rico’s Roughnecks (2099) vs Redshins (1561)
Rico’s Roughnecks have posted yet another excellent score and almost added to the impressive collection of 2100s this league has seen in 2017. Alas, they fell one point shy of the magical 2100. However, with nine centurions, Adam will be very happy with his charges. Stefan Martin (134) led the way this week with a so-high-it’s-barely-legal 63 hit-outs. Stef excelled alongside fellow trade recruits Gary Ablett (108, from the Bailout Plan), Jobe Watson (103, from Solomon’s Soldiers) and Luke Hodge (109, Champs16). The Roughnecks midfield is indeed looking strong. Brayden Fiorini (104) and Connor Blakely (97) were both brought in to cover the loss of Adam Treloar and they repaid the faith in spades. Treloar will now find it very hard to get back into this winning team.
The Redshins. What went wrong for the Redshins? Might I suggest?
-
Only 21 players in the starting line-up
-
No emergency in the back-line
-
Four players scoring in the thirties
-
Sam Mayes (37)
-
Tom “One-Kick-Wonder” Liberatore (31)
-
Ben Brown (35)
-
Tom Lynch (36)
-
-
The highest-scoring forward scored 74
It is hard to see the Redshins making a serious mark from here. Then again, they do play MaherShalalHashBaz next week, who are woefully out of form.
The Bailout Plan (1788) vs Such is Fyfe (1818)
Rebounding from a seven-point loss, Such is Fyfe held on for a 30-point win. This should come as no surprise. Steve Johnson was clutch for GWS. David Mundy had ice in his veins for Fremantle. Nathan has both men at his disposal and so this close one was a victory to savour.
Such is Fyfe was done and dusted after the China game, whereas The Bailout Plan had two players in Harry Cunningham and Luke McDonald to make up a deficit of 145. Then again, Cunningham and McDonald are hardly household names that inspire confidence. They couldn’t make it, only scoring 59 and 56.
The Bailout Plan do not play well in the fourth quarter. He lost by thirty this week. He lost by 18 to General Soreness. He lost by 42 to MaherShalalHashBaz. Luke can get to match point, but can’t deliver the knock-out blow. He can get to the try line but then he misses the easy putt. He can take the game to overtime, but then stumble at the last hurdle.
Solomon’s Soldiers (1466) vs Stranger Danger (1953)
How low can you go? How low can you go? Changing the team name back to Solomon’s Soldiers does not appear to be helping. A score of 1466 means that those who took the field averaged a measly 66 points. 66!!!!! Compare that to Stranger Danger’s average score of 88 per player. Two hundreds. Four scores in the thirties. Daniel Talia (64) was the highest-scoring backman. Sometimes there’s light at the end of the tunnel for this team, but make no mistake – it’s a long and very dark tunnel.
Stranger Danger looked like a pretty decent team this week. Nine hundreds across all four lines is by no means shabby. However, this performance was against Alex, so I won’t read too much into it. Interesting to note that Dangerfield was the eleventh best player for his team this week.
Defenestrators (2052) vs Champs16 (2095)
What a game! This was 1 v 2 on the ladder and the match itself lived up to the hype. The Defenestrators threw everything they could at the Champs, but the Champs withstood. We shouldn’t be surprised. Nelson rolls this way. Last week, Such is ‘Fyfe’ scored 1777, so the Champs produced 1785. This week, Paul’s boys ratcheted up 2000 points (again) and so Nelson’s lads went big. No one does just enough, week after week, better than the Champs.
Nine hundreds to eight in this match with tons on every line of the match-up. So much went right for both clubs and we now have a clear number 1 and 2 for the ladder and for the premiership betting. I did some closer analysis, and I think I figured out why Paul lost. It stands out badly. Only one of his forwards scored more than 70 – and that was Kennedy who had an off day with three goals and six behinds. Not only does Paul’s forward line coach have some work to do this week, but the chairman of selectors should also explain himself after leaving Luke Breust (97), Toby Nankervis (92) and Ben Cunnington (105) on the bench. The wheels have well and truly fallen off for the Defenestrators.
MaherShalalHashBaz (1862) vs General Soreness (1899)
I had many wins on the weekend. I won two games of Settlers of Catan. I won four games of chess, including a checkmate with a pawn. I won my AFL fantasy match, my Real Dream Team match and my other Ultimate Footy fixture. Even West Coast won. Unfortunately, in focussing on all these other things, I couldn’t even get my team right on the Friday night and I wound up losing the key match. The Burgess grudge match. Moreover, I blew my second opportunity to beat General Soreness, who remain the only team who have not tasted defeat at the hands of MaherShalalHashBaz.
That’s not to say I didn’t have some coaching strategies. I sent Bernie Vince (59) to tag Rory Sloane (63), mostly to give Zach Merrett a real crack at the Dangergawn medal. That worked out well. I gave debuts to four kids, and they all did pretty well, particularly Karl Amon (102). I put Zach Merrett (150) in a pigsty and he rolled in mud. But it wasn’t enough. Seven midfield hundreds wasn’t enough. The bottom end of my team keep throwing up stinkers and causing losses. General Soreness definitely deserved the win though. Ben McEvoy (108) and Brad Hill (123) have been inspired 2017 draft-picks. The other two members of Slurphliff also did well.
This match just goes to show how much things change year to year. Last year, I only lost four home-and-away matches. I have already lost four this year after eight rounds. General Soreness only won five games last year and after eight rounds, they already have five wins on the board.
I just wonder how many more losses I need before I go for a full-scale Alex-inspired rebuild. One loss to the Redshins next week just might push me over the edge.